WASHINGTON – Time after time, Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller has been there to save his teammates when they’ve bungled plays in front of him.

Who could imagine that Hiller would be the one with the mishaps Tuesday night and then just about everyone else following suit?

The Ducks ultimately melted down as Nicklas Backstrom scored goals at the end of regulation and in overtime to give the Washington Capitals a stunning 5-4 comeback victory at Verizon Center.

On a night when Teemu Selanne seemed set to snap his mates out of their collective offensive funk, the ageless winger was left to fire a water bottle in disgust as the Ducks (5-5-2) lost for the sixth time in seven games.

“How we could give up the opportunity to give up the extra point and the way we had played so well earlier in the game and then just basically started to self-destruct?” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle asked aloud.

“They’re an offensive team that pounced on their chances, put pressure on us and we didn’t react very well.”

The Ducks blew leads of 3-0 and 4-2 to waste a two-goal, four-point night by Selanne along with scores by Saku Koivu and Corey Perry. Hiller’s troubles began when he let in a soft goal by Joel Ward and then misplayed a puck that turned into a Dennis Wideman score.

Perry restored a two-goal lead, but Troy Brouwer scored when Hiller let his long shot kick off his glove into the air and into the net behind him.

“I’m sure some are just unlucky bounces,” said Hiller, who made 35 saves. “In the end, I still can’t be happy. Normally those things happen if you’re not sharp enough.”

With an extra attacker on the ice after pulling goalie Tomas Vokoun, Backstrom tied it at 4-4 with 42 seconds left when he fired in a rebound. The Capitals’ playmaking center then won it when a bouncing puck scooted through three Ducks to him.

“You can’t blame Hillsy,” defenseman Luca Sbisa said. “He’s been unbelievable for us. There’s nights like this but we’ve got to help him out more.”

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.